■ Lots of things to see and enjoy, 8,000 people visited the pop-up building in Garosu-gil for three days from the 16th to the 18th
■ Confirmation of public interest in indie games, further expansion of efforts to expand the base for creativity, creation, and start-up and development of the ecosystem
■ Burning Beaver 2022 Online continues until January 15 next year
Smilegate Future Lab Center announced on the 20th (Tuesday) that the offline event of the indie game & culture festival ‘Burning Beaver 2022’ ended successfully amid favorable reviews from the public and officials.
The Burning Beaver 2022 offline event was held at ‘Beaver World,’ a pop-up building in Garosu-gil, Sinsa-dong, Seoul, for three days from the 16th (Fri) to the 18th (Sun). ‘Burning Beaver’ is the character of this festival, based on the fact that a beaver’s passion for building a dam much larger than his body is similar to the passion of a game creator creating his own creations in a virtual world.
During this period when the strongest cold wave hit this winter, a total of 8,000 people, including 500 game industry officials, the general public and students who are interested in games, couples who came to enjoy a date, and family members, including children, visited Beaver World to create an atmosphere at the site. Heated up hot
Beaver World, with a total floor area of 2,200m2 on four floors, welcomed visitors to the exhibition hall with various entertainment, including 80 indie game exhibition booths, special exhibition zones, goods sales zones, and event zones. Visitors who visited Beaver World were provided with a B-pass, a passport for Beaver World, and B-token, a commodity, upon entry under the concept of a trip to Beaver World.
Visitors used it to play various indie games, participate in rich events prepared throughout Beaver World, and share high-fives with NPCs (Non-Player Characters), making pleasant memories.
Tak Lee (a freshman at Guil High School), who visited Beaver World on the 18th (Sun), the last day of the event, said, “I usually like and enjoy games, but I was able to play more games than I expected and there were events, so it was really fun.” I think it was beneficial to hear stories related to game development that are hard to come across,” he said.
Developers who participated in Burning Beaver 2022 also showed encouraging reactions. Kim Jeong-dae, CEO of Outsider Kids, who exhibited a shooting game called ‘Ripple Effect’ at this event, said, “Users’ feedback is very important to make a better game, and this Burning Beaver event was a great help.” It seems that the possible points of contact have widened.”
Meanwhile, the Burning Beaver 2022 online event will continue until January 15 next year. You can enjoy about 150 indie games at online exhibition halls such as Stove Indie and Metaverse (ZEP). In particular, the online conference BeaverCon, where prominent figures in the game industry share their insights, will be held for two days, from the 21st (Wednesday) to the 22nd (Thursday).
Smilegate Stove CEO Han Young-wun will present on the theme of a platform that grows with indie game creators. In addition, CEO Kim Seong-hoe, who runs the YouTube channel ‘G-Sikbaekwa,’ which has 790,000 subscribers, will present on the theme of ‘Indie of Insiders, Indie of People.’
“The Burning Beaver 2022 offline event clearly confirmed the public’s interest in indie games and game development,” said Minjeong Baek, head of the Smilegate Future Lab Center. We will strive to develop the game development ecosystem and expand the base for creativity, creation, and start-up activities. With Burning Beaver 2023 scheduled for next year, we will meet a more developed indie game ecosystem.”
